Dread it... Run from it... Fresh casting news for Denis Villeneuve's version of Dune arrives all the same. Actually, we're not dreading this, and we're running towards it, because word that Josh Brolin has joined the ensemble has us applauding the decision.
The adaptation of Frank Herbert's sprawling science fiction saga has will channel the interstellar drama of warring noble families vying to rule over space travel and supplies. When the Atreides family wrangles control of the sandy globe, only to be betrayed by the Emperor and other powerful houses, scion Paul ((Timothée Chalamet) has to flee into the harsh desert terrain along with his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson). There, they meet the native Fremen, and Paul, as part of a prophecy, rises to be a religious leader among them.
Brolin has made a deal to play Gurney Halleck, a troubadour-swordsman loyal to the family who is instrumental in the wakening of Atreides’ cosmic powers, which will start a revolution. In the 1984 David Lynch film, Patrick Stewart played the handy, weapon-slinging character.
This is just the latest piece of superb casting for a film that already also includes Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling and Javier Bardem as confirmed, with Zendaya and Oscar Isaac in talks. The cameras should be rolling (and the sandworms sliding) this spring in Jordan and Budapest.
As for Brolin's next piece of space-twisting action, he'll be back as the snap-happy Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, due out on 25 April.
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